© 2013 universal uclick from the mini page © 2013...

© 2013 Universal Uclick

from The Mini Page © 2013 Universal UclickTake a Look Around

A World Full of Art Art is all around us — in our parks, post offices, houses of worship, schools and other public buildings. The buildings themselves may be works of art. Many towns have art museums or galleries. But often we don’t really see the art in our environment. We don’t take time to stop and look. The Mini Page talked with an expert from the Smithsonian American Art Museum to learn more about the elements, or building blocks, of art.True seeing When we view art, it’s fun to wonder about the decisions the artist made. For example, you might ask: Why is the sculpture in the park made of metal? Why not wood? Why does an artist use certain colors? How does the light change the art? When did the artist create the work? What was going on at that time? If the art was painted during the Revolutionary War, for example, what was the artist’s point of view? Did that influence how the art was made or what it showed?

The building blocks Artists use elements of art to create their works. These elements are: • line • form • space • shape • color • texture These elements allow the artist to

deliver messages, make the viewer feel and think, tell stories or create beauty.

Drawing the line The line is the main building block of art. It can be an outline, a shading line, straight, curved, zigzagging or spiral.

Different types of lines create different feelings. For example, how does a zigzagging line make you feel?

Zigzags can create strong emotions; they give a sense of energy and activity. Your eyes have to work harder, so there is more tension than if your eye just moved straight across the paper. What kind of feelings do curvy lines create? How about straight lines?

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Albert Bierstadt’s paintings celebrate the beauty of the American wilderness. Look at this painting, “Among the Sierra Nevada, California.” How does Bierstadt use color, texture, space, form and line?

from The Mini Page © 2013 Universal Uclick

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Shaping the Art

Words that remind us of the elements of art are hidden in the block below. Some words are hidden backward or diagonally. See if you can find: ART, ARTIST, COLOR, CREATE, DEPTH, DIMENSIONS, ELEMENTS, EYE, FIGURE, FORM, GALLERY, LIGHT, LINE, PAINTING, PERSPECTIVE, SCULPTURE, SEE, SHAPE, SQUARE, SYMMETRY, TEXTURE.

Art try ’n’find

Can you find art in your

home?

S F Y R E L L A G E T A E R C C C O E E S T H G I L E N I L U F O R E P A H S A R T I S T L I S L M V K G N I T N I A P P G Q D O A R T E R U T X E T T U U E E R M S T N E M E L E U R A P Y S N O I S N E M I D R E R T E M K Y R T E M M Y S E E E H E V I T C E P S R E P


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ready resourcesfrom The Mini Page © 2013 Universal Uclick

The Mini Page provides ideas for websites, books or other resources that will help you learn more about this week’s topics.On the Web• americanart.si.edu• kidsfuncorner.com• youtube.com/watch?v=BinY9JLtoh4• youtube.com/watch?v=yL3ZhcmkB-kAt the library: • “The Art Book for Children” by the editors of Phaidon Press

The implied line A line doesn’t have to be actually drawn in the picture. It can be strongly suggested, or implied. For example, artists don’t have to draw in a black line to show the horizon, or the line where the Earth seems to meet the sky. The composition of the painting creates the horizon line, separating the sky from the ocean or the land.

Creating forms When we add depth, shapes become forms with three dimensions: length,

width and depth. For example, a square becomes a cube, a circle becomes a sphere and a

triangle becomes a cone.

Shapes Lines come together to form shapes. For example, three lines come together to form a triangle. Four lines form a square. One continuous line that’s bent forms a circle. Shapes

can be flat, or they can have depth.

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In Winslow Homer’s “High Cliff, Coast of Maine,” the diagonal, or slanted, horizon line gives a feeling of energy and tension. It makes the viewer feel as if something is about to happen.

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Look at the horizon line in “Maine Coast” by William E. Norton. The horizon is an invisible straight line. This creates a calm, smooth scene.

Sculptures are all 3-D. It is easy to see three dimensions in sculptures such as “Nenuphar” by Alexander Calder.

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Rookie Cookie’s RecipeOrange Pancakes

You’ll need:• 1 cup orange juice• 3 egg whites• 1/3 cup applesauce• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juiceWhat to do:1. Blend orange juice, egg whites, applesauce and lemon juice in a

blender until well-mixed.2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon

and salt.3. Gradually add orange juice mixture and stir until moistened.4. Coat a hot griddle with cooking spray.5. Pour batter to form pancakes. Turn when bubbles form on top and

around pancake.6. Serve with syrup or fresh fruit.You will need an adult’s help with this recipe. from The Mini Page © 2013 Universal Uclick

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Meet Caroline Sunshine Caroline Sunshine plays Tinka in the Disney Channel series “Shake It Up.” She decided she wanted to be an entertainer when she was 3 years old and performing in a ballet recital. She played Goldilocks in a play in kindergarten and later performed in several school and community plays. She has acted in several commercials and in movies, including “Marmaduke.”

Caroline, 17, was born in Atlanta. She grew up in Orange County, Calif., and has two younger brothers. She enjoys dancing, traveling, baking, snorkeling and rafting. She supports several children’s charities, including Toys for Tots.


Sally: How many skunks does it take to make a bad odor?

Sam: A “phew”!

Solomon: Did you hear the joke about the skunk?

Steven: Yes, and it stunk!

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All the following jokes have something in common. Can you guess the common theme or category?

Sawyer: Why did the baby skunk follow the advice of the bigger skunk?

Sonya: Because it was “odor” and wiser!

Mini Spy . . .Mini Spy and her friends are visiting an art gallery. See if you can find:• sailboat • number 3 • two teapots • sock• teacup • doughnut • umbrella • word MINI• question • bird’s head • cat • heart mark • bat • strawberry • fish


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Supersport: Michael CuddyerHeight: 6-2 Birthdate: 3-27-79Weight: 220 Hometown: Norfolk, Va. At an age when some baseball players are slowing down, Colorado Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer is rocking. As of June 30, he had one or more hits in 27 straight games, the longest streak in the big leagues this year. Cuddyer (pronounced Cud-DIE-er) also was hitting .344,

the highest batting average of his professional career. While Cuddyer creates excitement with his batting, the consecutive-game hitting streak belongs to former New York Yankee great Joe DiMaggio, who hit safely in 56 straight games in 1941. Cuddyer began his big-league career with Minnesota, where he had some big moments and won awards for his community service. He went to Colorado in 2012 and suddenly became one of the rocking Rockies.

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Adding Depth and Meaning

The Mini Page StaffBetty Debnam - Founding Editor and Editor at Large Lisa Tarry - Managing Editor Lucy Lien - Associate Editor Wendy Daley - Artist

Space Shapes and forms exist in space. Space creates forms. Positive space is the part of the picture that your eye focuses on. It is the scenery, the person or the object that is the subject of the art. Negative space is the empty space around the subject. It is the area around, above, below or within objects. It is the background of the subject.

Texture Texture is how a thing feels or how it looks like it would feel. Artists use elements such as light and dark to give materials such as cloth or glass a feeling of texture.

Color Colors create moods and a sense of movement. If artists put contrasting colors, such as red and green, next to each other, the colors seem to vibrate. Single colors can seem to move too. Warm colors, such as red, orange and yellow, look like they come forward in space. Cool colors, such as green

and blue, seem to move back in space.

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In “Sally Avery With Still Life” by Milton Avery, the woman, the table and the bowl of apples are positive space. The background is the negative space. The way the artist treats the negative space affects how we see the positive space. For example, in this picture, the negative space is dark and empty. This makes the woman look lonely and sad.

The Mini Page thanks Carol Wilson, assistant chair, in-gallery education programs, Smithsonian American Art Museum, for help with this issue.

Look through your newspaper for pictures of art. How does the artist use the different elements?Next week, The Mini Page is about the Newbery and Caldecott honor winners.

Childe Hassam, Improvisation, 1899, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Color helps move the viewer’s eye around the artwork, as with “Improvisation” by Childe Hassam.

“The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly” is almost completely symmetrical. Each half has something that echoes the other half. The artist, James Hampton, was a janitor who worked on this sculpture for 14 years in his garage. He made it entirely from discarded materials he found, such as old light bulbs, bits of foil and jelly glasses.

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In John Singleton Copley’s “Mrs. George Watson,” the dress looks satiny. How do you think the artist accomplishes this?

Tricks of the artist Symmetry (SIM-i-tree) is when one side matches the other. For example, our bodies have symmetry; each half has an arm and a leg. Symmetry calms us. When a scene is not symmetrical, it looks out of balance. This adds energy and tension to the art. Artists use special tricks to create perspective (per-SPEK-tiv), or how the viewer sees things. For example, they use size to make things look close or far away. Things that are small seem farther away than things that are big.

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